carried the ship into a kind of natural harbour which ran far into the
land. After his long imprisonment at sea the Prince was delighted with
the sight of the great trees which grew down to the very edge of the
water, and leaping lightly on shore he speedily lost himself in the
thick forest. When he had wandered a long way he stopped to rest beside
a clear spring of water, but scarcely had he thrown himself down upon
the mossy bank when there was a great rustling in the bushes close by,
and out sprang a pretty little gazelle panting and exhausted, which fell
at his feet gasping out--
‘Oh! Vivien, save me!’
The Prince in great astonishment leapt to his feet, and had just time to
draw his sword before he found himself face to face with a large green
lion which had been hotly pursuing the poor little gazelle. Prince
Vivien attacked it gallantly and a fierce combat ensued, which, however,
ended before long in the Prince’s dealing his adversary a terrific blow
which felled him to the earth. As he fell the lion whistled loudly three
times with such force that the forest rang again, and the sound must
have been heard for more than two leagues round, after which having
apparently nothing more to do in the world he rolled over on his side
and died. The Prince without paying any further heed to him or to his
whistling returned to the pretty gazelle, saying:
‘Well! are you satisfied now? Since you can talk, pray tell me instantly
what all this is about, and how you happen to know my name.’
‘Oh, I must rest for a long time before I can talk,’ she replied, ‘and
beside, I very much doubt if you will have leisure to listen, for the
affair is by no means finished. In fact,’ she continued in the same
languid tone, ‘you had better look behind you now.’
The Prince turned sharply round and to his horror saw a huge Giant
approaching with mighty strides, crying fiercely--
‘Who has made my lion whistle I should like to know?’
‘I have,’ replied Prince Vivien boldly, ‘but I can answer for it that he
will not do it again!’
At these words the Giant began to howl and lament.
‘Alas, my poor Tiny, my sweet little pet,’ he cried, ‘but at least I can
avenge thy death.’
Thereupon he rushed at the Prince, brandishing an immense serpent which
was coiled about his wrist. Vivien, without losing his coolness, aimed a
terrific blow at it with his sword, but no sooner did he touch the
snake than it changed into a Giant and the Giant into a snake, with
such rapidity that the Prince felt perfectly giddy, and this happened at
least half-a-dozen times, until at last with a fortunate stroke he cut
the serpent in halves, and picking up one morsel flung it with all his
force at the nose of the Giant, who fell insensible on top of the lion,
and in an instant a thick black cloud rolled up which hid them from
view, and when it cleared away they had all disappeared.
Then the Prince, without even waiting to sheathe his sword, rushed back
to the gazelle, crying:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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